Tag: Maharashtra

Hindu nationalist training video goes viral

June 2, 2016 India Bajrang Dal, Beef, Hindu nationalism, India, Maharashtra, Minorities, Uttar Pradesh, Vishva Hindu Parishad

A video showing members of a Hindu nationalist group receiving firearms training has gone viral on social media in India. The video depicting Bajrang Dal members in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has been criticised as “coercing young people towards violence and encouraging violence against minorities”, . Other videos . . . Read More

Indian Christians frustrated by Good Governance Day ‘distraction’ at Christmas

December 22, 2015 India BJP, Christmas, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Maharashtra, Pune

Thousands of Santa Clauses parade through the streets of Thrissur, Kerala state, in 2014.World Watch Monitor Church leaders have joined critics of a controversial move by the government of India’s second-most populous state to hold “Good Governance Day” observances on Christmas Day. “Holding programmes to promote Good Governance is . . . Read More

Indian Parliamentarians propose ban on conversions

October 6, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, Beef, BJP, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, Hindu Yuva Vahini, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand

Two cows, a sacred animal for Hindus, stand outside a church in Anjuna Flea Market in Goa.Eustaquio Santimano / Flickr / CC Two members of India’s ruling BJP party, one in the Lower and one in the Upper House of the national Parliament, plan to introduce a Private Members’ . . . Read More

Sixth Indian state seeks to adopt ‘anti-conversion law’

September 11, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha

A sixth Indian state is debating the introduction of an “anti-conversion law”. Maharashtra would follow Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in implementing a Freedom of Religion Act, which seems harmless in name, but in practice discourages evangelism, as Vishal Arora reports in the video below. Learn more: . . . Read More

Delhi protest marks 300 days of BJP in India

March 21, 2015 India Beef, Bihar, BJP, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, Sangh Parivar

At a March 19 rally in New Delhi, Christian and Muslim activists unfurl a list of what they consider atrocities against religious minorities during the first 300 days of rule under India’s Bharatiya Janata Party.World Watch Monitor / Anto Akkara Two dozen Christian and Muslim groups were joined by . . . Read More

Indian beef ban hits ‘untouchable’ Dalits hardest

March 13, 2015 India Bangalore, Beef, BJP, Dalits, Hindutva, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal

A national ban on beef, the cheapest meat in India, would hurt all of India’s tribal peoples.Meena Kadri / Flickr / CC The west Indian state of Maharashtra, run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), caused a commotion last week when it received Federal approval to enforce . . . Read More

Christmas 2014 ‘evokes not joy but fears’ for India’s Christians

December 18, 2014 India BJP, Christmas, Dharm Jagran Samiti, Good Governance Day, Hindutva, India, Maharashtra, Narendra Modi, RSS, Uttar Pradesh

Christmas is an occasion mostly associated with joy and celebration. But since the start of the holiday season, India’s minority religious groups of Christians and Muslims have been especially under pressure. The Indian Parliament has hardly functioned since the start of December because several opposition lawmakers have been protesting a . . . Read More

India minister says no special caste status for Christians

October 27, 2014 India BJP, Caste, Converts, Dalits, Haryana, Maharashtra

Winnowing grain in a Dalit village near Madurai, Tamil Nadu. 2006 photo.Matteo / Flickr / Creative Commons India should not extend government job and education assistance to the country’s poorest Christians, India’s social justice minister, Thavar Chand Gehlot, said this month. For one thing, he said, there are no . . . Read More

BJP win elicits mixed reaction from India’s Christians

June 19, 2014 India Assam, Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Hindutva, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Narendra Modi, Pune

From left to right. Indian President Mahinda Rajapaksa and new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting for bilateral talks in New Delhi, India. May 27, 2014 Mahinda Rajapaksa / Flickr/ Creative Commons India’s Christian leaders aren’t quite unanimous, yet, on the meaning of the May election landslide that swept . . . Read More

In India, a familiar pattern of pressure on Christians

July 29, 2013 India Andhra Pradesh, Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Hindutva, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Pentecostals, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh

In vast and diverse India, Christians often live freely. Yet India ranks among the 50 countries where life as a Christian is most difficult, according to Open Doors International, a global ministry that serves Christians who are pressured because of their faith. The country is No. 31 on Open Doors’ . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye